From Wall Street to Olde Town

PAGE 4 Ralston Valley Xpress NEWS
From Wall Street to Olde Town
BUSY, BUSY: Although the number of consumers have dropped, the shops are still open and the streets still lined with cars in Olde Town, Arvada. Photo by Courtney Gettel
How the economic recession has hit home in Arvada
Michael Auslen thing people have to have,” said Daniel. “So, when Says Wright, “Know where you’re shopping and know
michael.auslen@rvhsnews.com Editor-in-Chief people’s spending is cut back, your luxury items are some where your tax dollars are going.” After all, she says, “If
of the things that they definitely cut back on.” you’re going to pay sales tax anyway, why not pay it in the
There are very few people who would disagree that Along with any drop in a business’ bottom line comes city where you actually get that money back through the
last October was a rather unpleasant time for the state of decision making on what to cut. And Daniel appears rec department, the streets, plowing.”
the American economy. to be very proud that, thus far, The Growing Company On the whole, however, it seems that the worst has
In between stock market crashes and corporate hasn’t laid off any employees due to spending cutbacks. passed. Arvada is a strong city. Much stronger than the
bailouts, Americans had to endure a climbing unemploy- “You have to shop wiser,” she said, indicating what other cities around it, according to Wright. Because
ment rate, a rising national deficit and the destruction her business has done in lieu of cutting personnel. of the many small businesses that make their home in
of Detroit. In short, the worst economic time since the Accompanying the drop in sales throughout the coun- Arvada, the drop in sales at major department and “big
Great Depression. try and Arvada, city sales tax revenues dropped in recent box” stores, the closing down and scaling back of car
Arvada, just like the rest of the country, was hit hard. months. Changes in sales tax revenue can give a hollistic manufacturers and dealerships, and the decline in travel
But rarely does anyone talk about to what degree it was picture of the local economy at any point because as don’t have the same effect as in other cities where those
hit. sales drop throughout the city, so does sales tax. businesses account for a large portion of revenue.
And, according to Dot Wright, president of the When the recession hit and entire cities, like Detroit, Arvada appears to have weathered the storm. The
Arvada Chamber of Commerce, Arvada wasn’t really hit began to crumble, Arvada merchants got nervous. national economic forecast is considerably brighter than
very hard at all. In response to the slight dip in sales and spending, it was a year ago and, though the effects of the reces-
“If people were looking at their revenue and their as well as the overall feeling of trepidation that seems to sion have very likely not yet ended, the worst has already
bottom line, they weren’t that far down,” Wright said. be synonymous with the economy, the city of Arvada, in blown through. And, or so Wright hopes, the future
That’s not to say that local businesses weren’t hurt. conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce has started blows the local economy is sure to receive will be ab-
Kay Daniel owns The Growing Company, a 25-year- the Invest in Arvada program. sorbed by the network of small businesses and consum-
old flower shop located on Ward Road. But she says Simply put, the program will look at citizens as inves- ers’ support of local business, encouraged and aided by
that her business has, in fact, felt repercussions from the tors in the city and, by better educating them on the ser- the Invest in Arvada program.
recent downward economic slope. vices the city provides, promote spending at businesses Local businesses are “making it happen,” says Wright.
“[Flowers are] a luxury product. They’re not some- that pay Arvada sales tax. And that’s the only way to survive this storm.
The “Yea”s Have It Health care reform bill narrowly survives House of Reps
essentially, it would offer a government- to be weighing in their opinions on the making me sick,”’ said Rep. Candice Miller
Connor Randall
connor.randall@rvhsnews.com News Reporter run healthcare program. issue, even within the walls of Ralston (R-Mich.), adding that Democrats are
To help cover costs, the bill cuts Medi- Valley. passing “a jobs-killing, tax-hiking, deficit-
Saturday night, Nov. 11, the House care’s projected spending by more than Senior Taylor Jacobsen said that he exploding” bill.
of Representatives passed the Affordable $400 billion over a decade. It also imposes “is surprised that it passed. Without Bill sponsor John Dingell (D-Mich.),
Health Care for America Act. The bill, at a tax surcharge of 5.4 percent on income incentives, there could be some serious who has introduced national health insur-
1,990 pages long, has a price tag of $1.2 over $500,000 in the case of individuals consequences for the healthcare system as ance in every Congress since 1955, jabbed
trillion. The final vote in the House tal- and $1 million for families. While it has a whole.” back, saying that the bill “provides cover-
lied up at 220 yeas and 215 nays. In order garnered the support of influential inter- Senior and diabetic Aaron Faulkner age for 96 percent of Americans. It offers
to pass the bill, supporters (nearly all est groups, like AARP, the legislation has is happy that it “provides coverage for everyone, regardless of health or income,
Democrats) needed 218 votes, a goal that been opposed by private insurance firms. everyone, regardless of pre-existing health the peace of mind that comes from
was narrowly accomplished. This is a very difficult topic to deci- conditions.” knowing they will have access to afford-
In the end, 219 House Democrats vot- pher, so here’s the low-down: As far as the political spectrum goes, able health care when they need it.”
ed for the legislation and 39 voted against The bill would require most Americans those on the far right tend to be very No matter what your opinion is, there’s
it. 176 House Republicans voted against to carry insurance and it would provide concerned. one thing for certain: the way we look at
the bill, with only one—Rep. Joseph Cao federal subsidies to those who can’t “We are going to have a complete health care is changing; whether we have
(R-La.)—voting in favor. afford it. Large companies and corpora- government takeover of our health care our stethoscopes ready or not.
The legislation is an issue that will tions would be required to cover their system faster than you can say, `this is
continue to be debated, as it is not a law employees. Both consumers and compa- BY A CLOSE
yet. While the bill passed in the House, nies would be penalized if they reject the MARGIN: Speaker
the Senate still has to debate and vote on government’s options. Insurance indus- of the House Nancy
its version. If the Senate’s version passes, tries would no longer have the option of Pelosi (D-Cali.),
the two bills will have to be reconciled denying individuals insurance because of pictured, was one of
into one document and voted on again. medical history, gender, or pre-existing the new health care
Should that occur, the bill will await health conditions. reform bill’s greatest
President Barack Obama’s endorsement. The industry would also lose its ex- advocates. The bill
Obama told lawmakers that, “opportuni- emption from federal antitrust restrictions passed the House of
ties like this come around maybe once in for fixing prices and rates. The most heav- Representatives by
a generation,” and he issued a statement ily debated portion of the bill is the por- a narrow 115-120
saying, “I look forward to signing it into tion that gives the government the right to margin on Saturday,
law by the end of the year.” sell insurance. (Although the independent Nov. 7. Associated
If passed, the bill could provide health Congressional Budget Office predicts that Press File Photo
insurance coverage to 36 million cur- premiums for its insurance would be more
rently uninsured Americans, resulting in expensive than private firms, for now.)
96 percent of American’s having health People on both sides of the aisle seem
insurance. It’s still in its early stages, but,